Salvation
by ijustkeepswimming
Summary: Before they started on the misery of their relationship, I wrote this fic based on some spoilers. Here, Charlie confides in Angelo about her love for Joey...


_Okay, so I found the "Charlie gets jealous of Angelo's relationship" spoiler about half an hour ago and, rather than panicking about true love not working out, I thought I'd interpret it a different way! It makes me feel better and I hope it does you guys too! IJKS xxx_

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**Salvation**

Charlie was in a foul mood and taking it out harshly on a punch bag at the Surf Club. She'd seen Angelo with his new girlfriend and it was driving her crazy. He was so ridiculously happy, like his life was fixed and beautiful again and Charlie couldn't stand it.

"Hey!" a male voice greeted.

She recognised it as Angelo without even turning around. She punched harder.

"Charlie? Are you okay?" Angelo persisted.

She stopped hitting, took a breath and turned round.

"You ran out earlier. What's wrong?"

"Nothing!" she snapped.

"Charlie?"

Charlie wondered why he couldn't just leave her alone. She turned back to her punch bag, fighting angry and jealous tears. Angelo stepped behind her and grabbed her elbow. She whirled round and pushed him, trying to get away but his grip was strong.

"Charlie what's the matter?"

"Leave me alone."

"You've been weird with me ever since yesterday when I introduced you to... May."

He processed his own information. Charlie took the moment to storm out of the Surf Club. She ran straight for the beach. Angelo was right behind her, calling her name. Finally, he caught up with her.

"Are you jealous?" he asked.

She glared at him angrily.

"Yes," she confessed.

He looked stunned.

"But not for the reason you're imagining."

"Well... what? Why?"

Angelo was utterly confused. Charlie was desperate.

"I felt like... like we were connected. We were both seeking different kinds of salvation. In my head we were in it together and now... now you've got yours and what do I have?"

"What are you talking about, Charlie?"

"Tony's hanging out with you. You've got a new girlfriend who doesn't care about the mistakes you've made. And that's never going to happen for me. I wanted... I wanted you to stay as miserable as me because then at least I wasn't alone."

"Is this about that girl? The ex you won't talk about?" Angelo asked, connecting the dots and choosing not to be offended about her wanting him to stay unhappy.

Charlie sank down onto the sand, resting her head against her palms. Angelo sat beside her and put his arms around her shoulders as they shuddered and heaved with grief.

"I'm sorry," Charlie finally said. "I'm being completely unreasonable. I'm sorry."

"Charlie, talk to me."

"I can't talk about her."

"Try! You can't keep on like you are."

"I know I can't. But I don't know what else to do, Angelo."

"Talk," he urged.

"I feel like I'm dying," Charlie admitted. "I haven't taken a day off work since Joey left because I can't even breathe without her. If I stop for just a second, she invades my mind and I can't stop grieving. I hate myself for messing up the best thing that ever happened to me and there isn't a single thing I can do about it. She's gone and even if she comes back, I still might not be able to make things up to her."

She sank into his arms and sobbed. Her stroked her back and held her close. He'd mentioned Joey to her once before a few weeks ago and she had totally shut him down. In fact, in all the time he known Charlie, she had never opened up to him – not even during their fling.

"Charlie, if you want to be with this girl then you need to focus on winning her back," Angelo said. "Instead of working too hard and feeling sorry for yourself, you need to get yourself strong and secure. You need to find a way to prove how much you love her. You need to give her a reason to forgive you."

"I just... it's not fair. You killed someone you're being granted forgiveness. I... I cheated on the love on my life and I've lost her completely."

"She's really the love your life?" he asked. "I always thought it was Roman who..."

"Pales in comparison," Charlie confirmed. "I've never experienced anything like being in love with Joey."

She drew away and punched the sand as hard as she could, surprising herself when it hurt.

"Hey!" Angelo said soothingly.

He pulled her close again.

"What if she never forgives me?" Charlie asked him.

"Don't think about that. Focus on giving her a reason to give you another chance. Charlie, I have never seen you like this before."

"I've never been like this before," she sighed.

Silence fell between them.

"So, we were sharing misery, were we?" Angelo asked.

"I know it's far from the same situation but... yeah."

He smiled.

"I like that idea," he said. "I've always felt a connection between us, even after I came back. You were the only person willing to give me a chance. We've always understood each other, haven't we?"

"Most of the time," she agreed.

"But rather than being jealous that I'm starting to fix things in my life, won't you just be happy for me?"

"I'm a terrible person," Charlie said sadly. "I'm really sorry."

"It's okay."

"Look, if you love this girl so much... What's her name?"

"Joey."

"Joey. If you love her the way you seem to, then pick yourself up and make her want you when she gets back."

Charlie nodded slowly.

"I can do that," she decided. "When she steps off that boat in six weeks, I'm going to be there. I'll be standing there on the wharf waiting for her."

"Flowers wouldn't go amiss," Angelo suggested.

"With flowers," Charlie agreed. "And I'm going to convince her to spend time with me and with time, she's going to love me again."

Charlie already felt better. She wondered why she hadn't given in and spoken to someone before. She certainly hadn't expected Angelo to be so understanding, especially when the discussion had started based on her being angry with him for moving on with his life.

"There you go," Angelo enthused.

"Thanks, Angelo," Charlie said. "And I'm sorry. I am happy for you and May. Mostly."

He smiled. Still leaning together, they looked out on the horizon.

"So, this Joey, is she hot?" Angelo asked.

"You have no idea!" Charlie laughed.

"Well, I guess she must be if she turned you!"  
"She's the most beautiful woman in the world, inside and outside. Joey's gentle and loving. She's kind and funny. She's perfect. Far too good for me, really."

"Hey, we were staying positive," Angelo reminded her.

"Do you want to see a picture?" Charlie asked.

It felt strange to finally be talking about Joey. And she always thought that she if was going to share, it would be with Ruby, not her ex-boyfriend.

"Sure!" Angelo said.

Charlie pulled out her purse and unzipped it. She dug inside the clear plastic pouch and pulled out two pictures. One was of her and Joey together. They had been making out in her bedroom and then decided that all couples had cute pictures of themselves together so they'd taken one. They had planned on pressing their faces together, grinning wildly but at the last moment, Charlie hadn't been able to cope with thirty seconds of not kissing so she'd turned and kissed Joey's cheek. Joey looked so happy in the photo. She was laughing. Both of them were at peace with the world. Angelo nodded approvingly.

"Have you got anything more graphic in there?" he grinned.

She hit him playfully on the arm, scolding him.

"I do have an even prettier picture of her though," she revealed.

She flipped the first one to the back and showed him a picture of Joey sitting alone on the beach. She was smiling shyly, aware that she was only in shorts and bikini top. Charlie had taken her to a secluded part of the beach so that they could be alone together. Ironically, it was before they'd even got together. It had been a few days before they'd nearly kissed on the boat. Charlie hadn't clicked then as to why she wanted to hang out with Joey so much, especially alone. Well, she'd had an idea but she was the queen of ignoring her own heart. Angelo whistled.

"Wow! No wonder you turned!" he laughed. "She's stunning."

"She really is amazing," Charlie said, determined more than ever now to win her girl back.


End file.
